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going from 550d to 5D3 i noticed right away how awesome the view is never did i say that its to big. When i look in the 550d now it feels like a toy way to small i don't even know how i used it before.

I know what you are talking about at least when wearing glasses. I just happened to not notice it probably since I got used to it with my 5Dc. Just actually checked I don't have the eyepiece on the 5Dc and it is way easier to see the entire frame then with it on. I was comparing it to my 5DmkIII which has the eye piece also took that off...same conclusion I can see the edges. Still I prefer to use the larger VF then the smaller ones now...one of the reasons why I don't have a rebel anymore.

You might be the first person to ever lodge this complaint. Your viewfinder can never be too big! Even old film cameras often blow current FF's out of the water with better finders. If there's anything to complain about, its that the text/info in the viewfinder of FF cameras is smaller than APS-C cameras. But a bigger, brighter tunnel in which to compose your photos is always better. Spend a month with your 6D and then try going back to a smaller finder! They are truly tiny...

You make a valid point. In the halicon days of 35mm SLRs the true pro cameras had smaller viewfinders than the other little gems that were produced in those days. Cameras such as the Olympus OM1 and Pentax MX had much larger viewfinders than any of today's DSLRs.

Pentax MX- my first proper camera! 'Lent' to me by my Dad with a 1.7 50mm M series prime to get started.....Great camera, batteries only needed for the meter, and a massive viewfinder like you say!

we are talking abt 97 vs 100. yes, on paper is it bigger. but in real life, can you even notice that 3%? putting the 3% vf crop aside. he made it seems like that the 3% size difference is going to blow OP away. this is a misconception in this sense.

The specs I read (Canon's own 7D brochure) say the 7D viewfinder is 1x magnification and 100% coverage.Or do you mean that the 7D viewfinder is only 0.63x the size of the 5D/6D?

Yes, the 7D's magnification is either 1 or very close to it. You can put a 50mm lens on it and things look pretty much exactly the same size as they do through your other eye; in fact you can still have proper binocular vision with 1 eye looking through the finder and the other not.

That is definitely not the case with the 5D; its magnification is far lower.

As I say, my film camera does have 1x magnification, and is still (obviously) full-frame, so its viewfinder size is enormous compared to that of the 5D.

The specs I read (Canon's own 7D brochure) say the 7D viewfinder is 1x magnification and 100% coverage.Or do you mean that the 7D viewfinder is only 0.63x the size of the 5D/6D?

Yes, the 7D's magnification is either 1 or very close to it. You can put a 50mm lens on it and things look pretty much exactly the same size as they do through your other eye; in fact you can still have proper binocular vision with 1 eye looking through the finder and the other not.

That is definitely not the case with the 5D; its magnification is far lower.

That's because the 7D is a crop sensor, and the magnification spec was calculated using the same 50mm lens as was used when calculating the FF 5D.